Drafting arrangement



Dec. 13, 1966 P s 3,290,732

DRAFTING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 6, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. BOBBYL. PITTS BY M R, W

ATTORNEY Dec. 13, 1966 B. L. PITTS DRAFTING ARRANGEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Dec. 6, 1963 INVENTOR.

BO B BY L. P l T TS ATTO R NEY United States Patent 3,290,732 DRAFTINGARRANGEMENT Bobby L. Pitts, Spartanburg, S.C., assignor to DeerlngMilliken Research Corporation, Spartanburg, S.C., a corporation ofDelaware Filed Dec. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 328,564 3 Claims. (Cl. 19-255)This invention relates to textile handling apparatus and moreparticularly to a textile drafting arrangement which provides for apronguiding and roll and apron cleaning and which is particularly adaptedfor manufacture by molding.

It has been found most advantageous in an apron type draftingarrangement to provide guiding and cleaning elements for the aprons,which elements also serve to clean the apron carrying roll surface. Suchcleaning and guiding elements, including cradles integrallyincorporating such cleaning and guiding elements, are advantageouslyformed with two converging apron guiding surfaces which may 'terminateat the small end in a reduced diameter nose, and at the opposite largerend having a concave roll engaging surface which bears against the aproncarrying roll and cleans the outer surface thereof. The apron exerts acompressive force on the cleaning and guiding element at the nose end,and this force is transmitted through the element to the concave bearingsurface against the roll. In providing for molding of these taperedcleaning and guiding elements it is necessary to provide for ease ofmold release and to minimize the likelihood for warpage and providesatisfactory strength of the molded piece.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide mold-ed apronguiding and roll and apron cleaning elements which are easily moldedwith a minimum of warpage.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apron guiding and rolland apron cleaning element which has .a minimum number of parts and istherefore easier and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an apron guidingand roll and apron cleaning element which is supported on the rolls toreduce the possibility of apron breakage.

.become apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the inventionwith reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view in perspective of a drafting arrangementincorporating the herein disclosed invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the drafting arrangement shown in FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the novel apron guiding androll and apron cleaning element;

FIGURE 4 is a modified version of a portion of the element shown inFIGURE 3; 7

FIGURE 5 is a still further modification of the element shown in FIGURE3;

FIGURE 6 is still another modification of the element shown in FIGURE 3;and

FIGURE 7 is a modification of FIGURES 1-2 which can employ any of theforms of the apron guiding and roll and apron cleaning element shown inFIGURES 3-6.

Referring now in detail to the figures of the drawings, an illustrativepreferred embodiment is shown in FIG- UR-ES l3, in which a running massof staple fibers F is passed in conventional manner successively betweenpairs of drafting rolls 10 and 12, 14 and 16, and 18 and 20, the middlepair of rolls 14 and 16 having a pair of endless fiber control aprons 22and 24, respectively.

Inasmuch as the major amount of drafting is conventionally accomplishedin the zone between the middle rolls 14, 16 and the front rolls 18, 20from which the fibers proceed and are either twisted into yarn ordrafted further, and since the running mass of fibers is also brought toa minimum size in the zone between the middie and front pairs of rolls,it is most desirable that the fibers be controlled as closely aspossible in this zone. The present invention facilitates this control bythe aprons while also enabling the ease of molding of the aproncontrolling and cleaning element.

Looking now to FIGURES 1-3 and more particularly to FIGURE 3 thepreferred apron guiding and roll and apron cleaning elements consists offour basic components, namely combination cradle and clearer element 28,combination cradle and clearer element 30, screw member 32, andconnecting member 34.

Various materials may be employed in the formation of theabove-mentioned apron guiding and roll and apron cleaning element,including particularly those plastics which are readily moldable andwhich have good stability and wear characteristics, as for instanceDelrin acetal resin, nylon, and Bakelite.

In the preferred form of the invention, both of the combination cradleand clearer elements 28 and 30 include upstanding wall members 36 and 38respectively which frictionally engage the roll neck 40 of top centerroll 24 to position the integrally connected apron guiding and roll andapron cleaning elements 42 and 44 within the respective aprons 22 and24. Preferably, elongated notches 46 and 48 in the wall members 36 and38 are slightly narrower in width than the diameter of the roll neck 40to provide a'tight frictional contact between the roll neck 40 and thecombination cradle and clearer elements 28 and 30 in order to properlyposition the apron guiding and roll cleaning elements 42 and 44 withinthe aprons 22 and 24, respectively.

Apron guiding and roll cleaning element 44 has a concave roll engagingsurface 50 with a radius of curvature substantially the same as theradius of curvature of the external diameter of the roll 16 and is inperipheral engagement therewith. Element 42 further has an apron andguiding surface 52 which supports run 54 of apron 24 and cleans theinner surface thereof due to the rubbing action of the apron on thesurfare. Apr-on and guiding surface 52 extends between the concavesurface 50 and the nose portion 56 about which the apron reversesdirection and is tensioned thereby. Nose portion 56 has a radius ofcurvature substantially less that of the concave roll engaging surface.Extending between the nose portion 56 and the concave surface 50adjacent the fiber engaging surface of the apron 24 is a surface 58which engages the apron 24 adjacent the nose portion 56 but is inclinedaway from the apron as it extends toward the concave surface 50 in orderto allow the drafting of various diameter fibers without adjusting thedrafting area between the aprons 22 and 24.

Apron guiding and roll and apron cleaning member 42 is similar toelement 44 is that it also has concave roll engaging portion 60 with aradius of curvature substantially that of the radius of curvature of theroll 14 and is in peripheral engagement therewith. Furthermore element42 has an apron guiding and cleaning surface 62 in contact with theinner surface of the apron 22 as it passes from the nose portion 64 tothe roll 14. Nose portion 64 has a radius of curvature substantiallyless than the radius of curvature of the concave surface 60. EX- tendingbetween the nose portion 64 and the concave surface 60 adjacent theinner surface of the fiber engaging run of the apron 22 is an apronsupporting and cleaning surface 66 which is chamfered away from theapron 22 at 68 in order to aid in feed-through of the fiber mass betweenthis surface and the adjacent fiber control run of the apron 24.

If desired, the edges 70 and 72 of the element 44 and the edges 74 and76 of the element 42 can be blunted or rounded to prevent anyinterference between the aprons, the rolls, and the apron guiding androll and apron cleaning members 42 and 44.

It should be noted (FIGURE 1) that the wall members 36 and 38 extendbeyond the apron members 22 and 24 thereby confining the aprons in apredescribed path and preventing the rupture of the aprons by engagementwith one of the front rolls.

As previously pointed out the herein described apron guiding and rolland cleaning member is molded from a plastic type of material. Lookingat FIGURES 2 and 3 it can be seen that a cavity 78 has been provided inmember 42 and a cavity 80 has been provided in member 44. These cavitieshave been so designed as to provide walls of substantially equalthickness in order to provide uniform cooling in order to minimizewarpage due to non-uniform cooling of the members.

Looking at FIGURE 3 the construction and assembly of the apron guidingand roll and apron cleaning memher is shown. As previously pointed out acavity 78 is provided in the member 42. The particular shape of thiscavity is not a part of the invention but preferably is of a shape whichhas several sharp corners therein to prevent rotation of a memberinserted therein which conforms to the shape of the cavity. Connectingmember 34 is then molded to snugly fit the cavity 78. The proper spacingbetween the surfaces 58 and 66 of the members 42 and 44 to provide thedesired degree of drafting is selected and wall member 38 and theconnecting member 34 are drilled to accommodate such spacing. Thenconnecting member 34 is attached to wall member 38 in any suitablemanner such as screw 32. Then member 44 is placed into position inrelation to member 42 by merely inserting connecting member 34 intocavity 78 and squeezing the members 42 and 44 together until member 44abuts the inside of wall member 36 and member 42 abuts the inside ofwall 38 at which time the connecting member 34 will be securely heldwithin the confines of cavity 78.

If desired, a connecting member similar to connecting member 34 may besecured to wallmember 36 and be so shaped as to engage the cavity 80 ofthe member 44 at the same time that connecting member 34 is engagingcavity 78. Such would give a stronger interconnection of the elements 42and 44 and prevent twisting of the element 44 but in actual practicesuch does not appear necessary.

As previously stated the length of the apron guiding and roll and aproncleaning apparatus in the direction of the fiber feed may be any lengthdesired in order to handle any fiber lengths. This is merely a matter ofdesigning a mold to accommodate the particular length of fiber which itis desired to draft. Furthermore, the opening between the nose portions56 and 64 of the apron guiding and roll and apron cleaning elements 44and 42 can be adjusted merely by preselecting the position of the hole82 in the wall member 38 and the hole 84 in connecting member 34.

The modification of FIGURE 4 is the same as the preferred embodiment ofFIGURES 1-3 except that the connecting member 34 is molded as anintegral part of the wall member 38. This modification obviously doesnot allow the spacing between the apron guiding and roll and aproncleaning members to be changed but obviously two or more members can bemolded to provide various spacings.

The modification of FIGURE 5 provides a construction in which the apronguiding and roll and apron cleaning member is molded in two halves andtongues 86 are provided on one half designed to frictionally engagegrooves 88 on the other half. As in the modification of FIGURE 4 variousmolds will have to be made to provide different spacing between theelements 42 and 44.

The modification of FIGURE 6 is similar to that of FIGURE 5 except thatthe tongue and groove connection is eliminated and pin members 90interconnect the halves of the apron guiding and roll and apron cleaningelement through holes 92 drilled therein.

It is further contemplated that a combination of the modification shownin FIGURES 5 and 6 may be employed in that both the tongue and grooveand the pins 90 may be employed together.

As previously set forth the modification of FIGURE 7 is applicable tothe modifications set forth in the preferred embodiment of FIGURES 1-3as Well as the modification of FIGURES 4-6. In the use of the inventionshown in FIGURES-1-6 it has been found that some of the fibers comingfrom the rolls 11 and 12 tend to fan out and get caught between the wallmembers 36 and 38 and the rolls 14 and 16 resulting in an accumulationof fibers which if left will eventually decrease the efiiciency of thedrafting system. To prevent such accumulation of fibers the wall members36 and 38 have been extended toward the rolls 10 and 12. Rounded ridges94 have been provided on the extension 96 and 98 of wall members 36 and38 to guide the incoming fibers toward the center of the rolls 14 and 16and to prevent any fibers from being caught between the wall members 36and 38 and the rolls 14 and 16.

The herein disclosed invention provides an apron drafting system inwhich the apron and the rolls are continuously cleaned and at the timeprovides support for the apron in the critical area of the draftingzone. Furthermore, this invention provides a compact, readily assembledapron guiding and roll and apron cleaning system which has a minimumnumber of parts and is inexpensive to manufacture. Furthermore, the newapron guiding and roll and apron cleaning drafting system is supportedin a manner to alleviate the problem of breakage of the aprons due toinadvertent contact with the front rolls. The novel drafting arrangementdisclosed herein has the further advantage that it can be made so as tohandle various lengths staple fibers and can be so sized or adjusted tohandle various degrees of drafting.

Although I have described specifically the preferred embodiments of myinvention I contemplate that changes may be made without departing fromthe scope or spirit of my invention and I desire to be limited only bythe scope of the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A cradle assembly for a textile drafting arrange ment having a pairof drafting rolls carrying fiber control aprons thereabout comprisingspaced apart Wall members, a first nonrotatable apron guiding memberextending between and attached to said wall members, a secondnonrotatable apron guiding member spaced from said first apron guidingmember and extending between and attached to said wall members, saidfirst apron guiding member having a concave surface at one end adaptedto contact one of said drafting rolls and an apron reversal portion atthe other end, said first apron guiding member having at least twosections with one section molded to one of said spaced apart wallmembers and the other of 5 6 said two sections molded to the other ofsaid spaced References Cited by the Examiner apart wall members, andmeans on -one section of said UNITED STATES PATENTS two sectlonsengaging the other section of sa1d two sections to maintain said wallmembers in spaced relation- 2,132,299 10/1938 Jackson -r- 19-253 shipand to hold said two sections together. 5 3056174 10/1962 Macdonald 19255 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said means in 3,116,518 1/1964Newton 19245 cludes a projection molded to one of said two sections.3,129,467 4/1964 Swanson 19 255 3. The structure of claim 2 wherein anopening is 3,132,384 5/1964 Newton 19245 formed in one of said twosections, said projection being on the other of said two sections andprojecting into 10 MERVIN STEIN Prlmary Exammer' said opening. DONALD W.PARKER, D. NEWTON, Examiners.

1. A CRADLE ASSEMBLY FOR A TEXTILE DRAFTING ARRANGEMENT HAVING A PAIR OFDRAFTING ROLLS CARRYING FIBER CONTROL APRONS THEREABOUT COMPRISINGSPACED APART WALL MEMBERS, A FIRST NONROTATABLE ARPON GUIDING MEMEBREXTENDING BETWEEN AND ATTACHED TO SAID WALL MEMBERS, A SECONDNONROTATABLE APRON GUIDING MEMBER SPACED FROM SAID FIRST APRON GUIDINGMEMBER AND EXTENDING BETWEEN AND ATTACHED TO SAID WALL MEMBERS, SAIDFIRST APRON GUIDING MEMBER HAVING A CONCAVE SURFACE AT ONE END ADAPTEDTO CONTACT ONE OF SAID DRAFTING ROLLS AND AN APRON REVERSAL PORTION ATTHE OTHER END, SAID FIRST APRON GUIDING MEMBER HAVING AT LEAST TWOSECTIONS WITH ONE SECTION MOLDED TO ONE OF SAID SPACED APART WALLMEMBERS AND THE OTHER OF SAID TWO SECTIONS MOLDED TO THE OTHER OF SAIDSPACED APART WALL MEMBERS, AND MEANS ON ONE SECTION OF SAID TWO SECTIONSENGAGING THE OTHER SECTION OF SAID TWO SECTIONS TO MAINTAIN SAID WALLMEMBERS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP AND TO HOLD SAID TWO SECTIONS TOGETHER.